2015 Course Catalog (310)

Our understanding of ourselves and others are formed by visual images and bodily feelings that are social in origin. They make us feel (un)comfortable, sublime, ridiculous, grotesque. In this course we will examine how the materiality of the body grounds our metaphors about identity and subject formation. This course moves between cultural studies, queer theory, disability...

This course provides an introduction to cultural anthropology, surveying its defining questions, methods, and findings. We will examine the history and utility of anthropology's hallmark method, ethnography, the long-term immersion of the researcher in the culture under study. We will compare cultural anthropology's findings and comportment in other cultures to its conclusions and conduct in our own. No prerequisites.

What does it mean to "do" or to "commit" violence? How do we recognize it when it is so ubiquitous? Be it through war, ethnic cleansing, social conflict, revolution, or various forms of interaction, the topic of violence has figured prominently in anthropological scholarship as well as social thought throughout history. This course will explore major theories...

An introduction to human physiology aimed primarily at undergraduates who have minimal to no Biology background or who are not concentrating in biology. Acquire a basic understanding of the physiological mechanisms that allow for the running of each major organ systems. Topics include basic cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, digestive, endocrine, and neuromuscular function,...

This course examines the structure and function of the basic unit of an organism, the cell. An experimental approach is used to examine cellular functions, ranging from gene transcription, cell division and protein secretion, to cell motility, and signal transduction. Relevance to health and disease will be considered. Prerequisite: BIOL 0200 or AP Biology score of 4 or 5.

Introduction to the function and integration of animal systems with an emphasis on mammals. Includes basic concepts in cell and organ system physiology as well as fundamentals of modern trends in physiological science. Emphasizes the application of physical and chemical principles to animal function at both the cellular and systemic levels. Prerequisite: BIOL 0200 or AP Biology score of 4 or 5.

In this course, we will study how television reflects and shapes American culture, from its beginnings as focal point of family life in the suburban 1950s to its current status as interactive experience. We will look at television as a business, as a medium, and as a cultural force. Within that framework, we will analyze who decides which programs to put on the air, and how...

What do we mean when we talk about the modern era in the United States as a “culture of consumption?” How have Americans created and reflected identities through participation in this culture? Beginning with the advent of mass production, advertising, and branding, we will examine the development of modern consumer culture, from its foundations in the 1870’s...

Why do Americans go to war? How do conflicts abroad shape politics at home? In this course, students will study debates concerning freedom of speech, civil rights, and political repression during the two World Wars, the early Cold War, and the Vietnam era. Reading a range of primary sources, including political speeches, journalism, and literature, discussions will reflect...

Do you like solving ancient mysteries, traveling to exotic parts of the globe, visiting ancient monuments, examining ancient artifacts, and studying history? If so, then this course is for you!! This course will introduce you to the fascinating field of archaeology: what it is, how it’s done, how it can help us understand the human past, and how it can help us make sense...

The overarching theme of this course is to supply students with an ample understanding of our human antiquity; therefore, we will use archaeology as a means to comprehend our earliest origins and our unique evolution. This course should be of particular interest to students interested in archaeology and in the humanities in general.

The cultural and social diversity of the world around us is astounding. Anthropology is a discipline that examines different aspects of this diversity and allows one to better understand the complexity of social phenomena. This course introduces students to the most important concepts and approaches used by anthropologists in understanding socio-cultural variation. The course...

This course explores ancient Egyptian "stuff" up close: metal weapons, wooden statues, stone monuments, glass-glazed figurines, and how they were made and used. Students will learn the science and engineering behind these ancient technologies, and discuss how their materials and designs shaped and were shaped by their use in ancient Egypt. Along with the course lectures...

The manufacture of artifacts distinguishes us from all other species. This course examines the artifacts that archaeologists most commonly recover: lithics (artifacts made from stone), pottery, and metallurgy, as well as glass, wood, and bone. Students will become aware of the principles that surround human artifacts and the documentation techniques used by archaeologists,...

Using the MTV series Girl Code as a platform, this course introduces basic concepts and perspectives of our gendered lives by placing gender, sexuality, and culture at the center of analysis. An emphasis will be placed on pop culture and how it continues to shape our understanding of the concepts of women, men, sex, and gender as diverse categories that intersect with class,...

While History and Biology are often seen as distinct or even competing fields, in fact each has much to contribute to the other. Co-instructed by two Brown Professors, one in History and the other in Biology, this class will explore the enormous collaborative potential of both disciplines to deepen and enrich our understanding of the early development of human societies.

This course provides an introduction to urban anthropology, or the study of problems, processes, cultures, and institutions associated with city life. Through classroom activities, as well as interactive field trips to urban sites in Providence, students will develop tools for seeing the city anthropologically. Students will gain a highly participatory introduction to city...

Forensics is the application of science to answer questions pertaining to the law. Methods used to solve criminal investigations have progressed significantly over the past thirty years. Investigators and scientists now collaborate and use forensic technologies to uncover facts associated with criminal cases. This course will uncover the truth behind criminal investigations...

We always hear about endangered species all over the world. What exactly is being done to protect these animals and their habitats? Most people do not realize it, but every endangered species has a recovery plan that maps the road to successfully increasing populations and saving habitats. Zoos are a huge part of these recovery plans by being a place for breeding and increasing...

Have you ever wondered how your body does all the things that it does?

Our bodies contain 206 bones and over 600 muscles, all coordinated by a central computer called the brain. In this course, you will learn how your body's components work as one, to keep you going everyday.

This exciting hands-on course will provide an opportunity to answer your questions...

The field of Modern Biotechnology explores breakthrough technology that has revolutionized pharmaceutical, agricultural, and biomedical research. Scientific researchers in DNA Science work to understand diseases, develop treatments and cures, and to address concerns with the environment and our food supply. This laboratory-based course is designed to expose students to the...

Have you ever wondered how your body does all the things that it does? Our bodies contain 206 bones and over 600 muscles, all coordinated by a central computer called the brain. In this course, you will learn how your body’s components work as one to keep you going everyday.

This exciting hands-on course will provide an opportunity to answer your questions...

This exciting course will centralize around major illnesses that stem from deadly microbial organisms. Our focus will be on zoonotic infections, or in other words, diseases that pass from animals to humans. Most newly arising diseases and some of the most fatal, originate from our animal counterparts. Zoonotic diseases tend to be some of the most deadly because our bodies’...

Forensics is the application of science to answer questions pertaining to the law. Methods used to solve criminal investigations have progressed significantly over the past thirty years. Investigators and scientists now collaborate and use forensic technologies to uncover facts associated with criminal cases. This course will uncover the truth behind criminal investigations...

The development of powerful tools in molecular biology has led to an explosion in our understanding of genes and the factors controlling their expression. Illuminating research, including recent Nobel Prize winning work, is beginning to reveal the significant role of RNA, a molecule long thought to be merely a "messenger."

So you think you want to be a doctor? This course is designed to help you answer that question by letting you see the practice of medicine firsthand, giving you a taste of what medical school would be like, and helping you evaluate how well your talents and preferences match those of a career in medicine.

This course explores the structure and function of the human body at multiple levels: individual cells, their coming together to form tissues, the organization of tissues into organs, organs working together as parts of organ systems, and finally how those organ systems support one another to maintain the body. Normal structure and function are presented as a starting point,...

The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the field of infectious diseases and to give students an understanding of pathogens that cause infections and their impact on worldwide public health. This course will be of interest to students who want to study medicine, life science, or public health.

What is Public Health? Public health is the latest buzz word in America and encompasses efforts to improve the health of specific populations through education and advocacy. In this one-week course, students will develop an overall understanding of public health. The course will culminate with an opportunity for students to work collaboratively and use their new skills to solve...

The goal of the course is to understand the organ systems’ integrated response and adaptations to the stress of exercise. This topic is interesting to anyone who wants to understand what their body is actually doing at the biological level during exercise and post exercise. The course will introduce and demystify training regimens and diets and sciences' evolving...

Doctors work to treat diseases, but scientists work to cure them. Have you ever wondered about the work that goes on behind the scenes in Medicine? Do you want to find out what it is like to work in a laboratory and be a real "lab rat"? This laboratory intensive course is designed to expose students to basic laboratory research, current topics, and techniques in molecular...

Did you know that the bubonic plague killed approximate 50% of Europe’s population in the middle ages? Did you know that the bacterium that causes leprosy lives inside of the American Armadillo? Bacteria floating miles high in the atmosphere can cause meningitis. Bacteria even contribute to obesity and heart attacks. Come learn about the amazing world of bacteria!

Physiology is the critical study of how living things function. It is not anatomy, but as one of the most fundamental disciplines in the biomedical sciences, it depends heavily on anatomical and biological concepts. An understanding of the basic principles of physiology, especially in regard to our own bodies, is an invaluable part of any budding physicians' or scientists'...

Is a career in medicine right for you? This course is designed to help you answer that question. Experience the study of medicine in a whole new way and get a taste of what medical school and practicing medicine in a variety of different medical specialties would be like. Participants in this class will:

Physiology is the critical study of how living things function. It is not anatomy, but as one of the most fundamental disciplines in the biomedical sciences, it depends heavily on anatomical and biological concepts. An understanding of the basic principles of physiology, especially in regard to our own bodies, is an invaluable part of any budding physicians’ or scientists’...

Molecular biology and biochemistry are two closely related fields where the properties of key biological molecules, such as proteins and DNA, and how they interact with each other in living organisms are studied. Research in these areas has become so successful at explaining living processes that it is used in almost all areas of the life sciences from medicine to the study...

Organic and biochemistry are the foundation sciences for the life sciences discipline. Students hoping to have a medical career need to have a strong foundation in chemistry. The MCAT exams given to college students hoping to enter medical, dental, or veterinary schools contain a number of sections devoted to general, organic, and biochemistry.

In this course you will study the major organ systems of the body, investigate normal and pathologic anatomy and physiology, and examine common diseases and injuries and their effect on the body’s organ systems.

This course provides students considering a career in the health professions a foundation in the study of human form and function from the perspective of practicing...

Topics to be covered in this laboratory intensive course include the structure and function of biomolecules such as proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, and DNA, as well as the structure and function of cellular components. In the laboratory, students will carry out several introductory and advanced experimental techniques utilizing both DNA and proteins. Experiments will include...

Despite world-wide advances in technology and development, providing basic health care to people in resource-poor settings continues to pose enormous challenges. Now more than ever, the global community is focused on overcoming inequities in health care and reducing poverty as a means of curbing the spread of disease and improving lives. Building on this momentum, this course...

What makes an expert witness an expert? What would the perfect crime look like? These are but a couple of the many questions we will explore during this course. Forensic science is an exciting field that combines scientific principles from many different science disciplines with technology and math resulting in new, sometimes surprising outcomes!

Have you ever thought about how nerve cells in your brain talk to each other, and how psychoactive drugs can affect this process? In this class, you will learn the latest ideas concerning how nerves use chemicals and electricity to communicate with each other, and how drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, LSD, caffeine, and nicotine can alter brain communication.

Drugs and alcohol have been part of the human experience since prehistory. Why are drugs and alcohol so thoroughly entrenched in human society? How do different drug classes affect human behavior? Why do some people abuse drugs, while others never become addicted? In this course, we will attempt to answer these questions. This course will cover the function of drugs in human...

The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the way that diseases are treated on a physiological level and how drugs are discovered and created. Students will gain an understanding of how the pharmaceutical industry approaches drug discovery, balancing patient quality of life and treatment regimen, as well as how drugs interact with the human body to elicit...

Have you ever questioned why certain types of cancer are so difficult to treat or how basic science discoveries translate into clinical practice? This course will provide an introduction to cancer biology through hands-on laboratory exercises and interactive lectures. Students will have the opportunity to develop an independent research project and learn about the daily activities...

Have you ever had a really bad cold? Maybe the flu? Do you know a polio survivor? Someone with AIDS?

Do you ever wonder exactly how these illnesses occur? It turns out we are merely guests in a fascinating microscopic world. Among the bacteria, parasites, prions, and other microbes are tiny, lifeless, parasitic beings that have been on earth long before we ever were: we...

Have you ever wondered what your life would be like without Tylenol or penicillin? How were these drugs discovered? How did they become so popular? Pharmaceutical companies spend over 1 billion dollars developing just one new drug and getting it to the market. Why does it cost so much money? In this course you will find out the answers to these questions and get a look behind...

The World Health Organization describes health as a fundamental human right. Global public health is not only driven by scientific evidence, but also by community, national, and international interests. Even seemingly simple public health solutions, such as providing food for famine, vaccines for diseases, clean water, and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies,...

There's a lot of controversy surrounding embryonic stem cells, but did you know that there are many types of stem cells in the body and that some are already being used to treat diseases? In this course, you'll learn about what stem cells are, what they do, and their importance to research and medicine. You’ll even learn how to culture mammalian cells. Discover...

Have you ever wondered why your doctor poked you with so many needles when you were a kid? Why you got the flu this year but your best friend didn't"but if she eats peanuts she could die within minutes? What your white blood cells are and what makes them different from the "red stuff" that you can see? Why HIV is so deadly and what it means when someone...

From jellyfish to squid, and deep-sea tube worms to coastal lobsters, marine invertebrates play a diverse and crucial role in our world's oceans. In this course, students will learn about the major groups of marine invertebrates, including their life cycles, anatomies and evolution, and functions in marine ecosystems. This course will also serve as a fundamental introduction...

Approximately 80% of high school athletes will experience a significant sport-related injury at some point in their athletic career. However, an astounding fifty percent of sports-related injuries are from overuse and 60% of overuse injuries can be prevented. In this interactive course we will explore injury prevention principles, optimal training response, and learn performance...

Why have scientists spent over 100 years studying the miniscule fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster? This humble animal has made major contributions to biomedical research and become an invaluable research tool for geneticists and developmental biologists around the world. Students will explore the history and flexibility of this favorite model organism and use it as an illustrative...

Have you ever wondered about the difference between the recreational and medicinal usage of psychoactive drugs (drugs that alter mood and behavior)? Are there basic differences in the action of psychoactive drugs when they are taken for recreational versus medicinal purposes? And how does society decide how to categorize psychoactive drugs: which ones to make legal and which...

Taste! Smell! Sound! Sight! Touch! Balance! How is all of this information turned into sensation? Hint: it involves the brain! Students will learn how our brains make sense of the world around us, and they'll learn a little brain anatomy along the way too!

Through a combination of individual and small group experiments, students will about the sensory systems...

Taste! Smell! Sound! Sight! Touch! Our world is alive with stimuli and these are just some of the many senses we use to explore it. But how are all of these senses transformed into our everyday perceptions?? I’ll give you a hint: it involves your brain! The brain is a fascinating organ- it only weighs about three pounds, but has billions of specialized cells that make...

The study of the brain as a biological structure is very different from the study of any other organ in the body. The cells that make up the brain, neurons, share many of the same fundamental characteristics with other cells of the body (exocytosis, manufacturing of proteins, metabolism, growth). However, the functions of these cells result in products that are quite unique...

The facts we learn as humans across our lifetime and our memories of personal experiences make each one of us unique. Consider, however, how a person’s sense of self would be affected if he or she were unable to form new memories. At a more basic level, how could animals survive if they were unable to learn from their experiences? This course will offer students the opportunity...

Have you ever wondered about the difference between recreational and medicinal usage of psychoactive drugs (drugs that alter mood and behavior)? Are there basic differences in the action of psychoactive drugs when they are taken for recreational versus medicinal purposes? And how does society decide how to categorize psychoactive drugs: which ones to make legal and which illegal?...

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and networks of nerve cells, or neurons, that travel throughout the body. Although the field of neuroscience is relatively new, being recognized only in recent decades as a formal discipline, it is growing and expanding at a very rapid rate. The rapid growth of neuroscience and the pace of biomedical...

The human brain is one of the most complicated and mysterious systems on the planet. In recent decades, a huge push has been made to understand the brain through computer modeling. A large number of scientists have been involved in the development of these models not only to advance our understanding and treatments of neurological and psychiatric illnesses, but also to help...

The human brain has more than 85 billion nerve cells, also known as neurons. Ever since the original description of the neuron by Santiago Ramon y Cajal in the 19th century, neuroscientists have known that understanding the neuron is key to understanding how the brain works. This course is an introduction to neuroscience in which we will examine the inner workings of the neuron:...

This course will be co-taught by a Ph.D. biologist and a practicing mental health counselor. "Brain and Behavior" will provide students with a multifactorial perspective on psychopathologies. We will delve into illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders. Students will study both the biological...

What do the SAT and the college application essay have in common? Both offer opportunities for the word-smith to shine: both rely on choosing the right words and understanding them in context. Expanding your vocabulary can also improve success in college, especially if you are intending to major in a STEM field, medicine, or law, which have highly specialized vocabularies based...

Why do we still glorify the Spartans in movies and books over 2000 years after their city and way of life fell to ruins? What about Spartan history and culture has captured the imaginations of those who have studied them, both in the ancient and modern worlds? Their strict, regimented lifestyle produced a class of dedicated, fearsome warriors, but did their eugenics and training...

Spanning from Britain to Iraq, the Roman Empire connected vast areas and different cultures in a time before the internet, telephones, or mass media. How did the Romans gain such an Empire, how did they govern it, and ultimately why did it fall? This course examines the history of the Roman Empire and considers the unique social, cultural, and political concerns of an imperial...

What did the ancient Greeks do for entertainment? Today we have movies, concerts, YouTube, and countless other sources of amusement. For the ancient Greeks, theater was the main game in town. Every year, companies of citizen actors would produce original, large budget plays. The competition was fierce; the prizes: glory, gold, and undying fame.

Drama, tragedy, theater -- these modern terms and concepts have their origins in Ancient Greece, which developed modes of performance that we still enjoy today. Despite the basis of modern theater in antiquity, if we could watch the original performances of Greek tragedy by Aeschylus, Sophocles, or Euripides, the experience would differ greatly from going to see a modern play....

In this course, we will analyze how different configurations of key elements--the market, the participants, the institutions, and the external factors--constitute the global business environment. It is an environment in which each participant wants to optimize a measure of welfare: for example, firms make production and pricing decisions in order to maximize profits (or any...

This course provides an introduction to the study of financial assets and international financial markets. Topics covered include the purpose and functioning of financial markets and institutions, valuation of financial assets, analysis of risk and return, and the recent financial crisis.

The course will address questions such as the following: What are the functions...

An Introduction to Game Theory is a three-week core course in behavioral economics. Game theory is the systematic study of strategic interactions that are present everywhere, not only in economics but in politics, sociology, law, computer science, and sports.

The main goal of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts and tools of game theory and to...

This course introduces students to concepts and tools needed to understand basic economic decision making. By examining how individuals, governments, and businesses allocate resources, students will gain an understanding of the environment in which resource decisions are made. In this course, we focus on economic analysis rather than investments. We examine some of the instruments...

In 1980, three television stations provided entertainment, telephones were stuck to walls, computers took up entire rooms, and people found facts in books and consumer goods in a store. Today, smart chips no bigger than a fingernail hold more information than the computer of the 1980s, Google processes 1.2 trillion Internet searches per year worldwide, ecommerce sales topped...

Despite unprecedented increases in global wealth, a large share of the world’s population still lives in abject poverty. Addressing economic, social, and political inequality is one of the primary challenges for the world in the 21st century.

Development is a complex and controversial endeavor. Some think of development as industrial or economic growth, some as a...

Do good‐looking people earn more? Are 'Emily' and 'Greg' more employable than 'Lakisha' and 'Jamal'? Can cancer affect housing prices? Does living near a fast food restaurant cause obesity? Is corruption a cultural trait? This one-week core economics course will examine selected discoveries in applied microeconomics and explain them...

What are the origins of the current economic turmoil? Why do the youth rebel all over the world more than ever before? Why are Europe and America losing ground to emerging markets? How can we better understand the limits of our economic system and how will this affect our career opportunities, our health and our education?

Are you full of great business ideas? Do you love sharing these ideas with your friends and family? Does your imagination wander when you think about how a product or service could be developed or improved? If so, you may be on your way to becoming the next great entrepreneur!

Develop your ability to see the world with an entrepreneurial eye and look for your next great...

We are exposed to economic data and statistical analysis wherever we go: at the supermarket through prices and quantities of goods, at school through relative performance and GPAs, and in advertising through comparisons between the new iPhone 6 and a competitor’s model. Understanding the message is not an issue, but being a critical user of that information requires a...

This is a core course in introductory microeconomic theory, introducing students to the fundamental principles of how to think like an economist. By the end of the course, students should be able to combine abstract concepts with formal analytical tools in order to understand how consumers and producers make optimal choices, and how these choices affect real market outcomes....

Game theory is used to understand human behavior. The course will start with the study of the basic concepts of game theory and then will move on to the study of decision making by real people who are not perfectly rational. The course will help students understand how people really interact with each other in daily life, using both economic theory and experiments in economics.

Being an entrepreneur means being willing to take risks, look at things in new ways, and challenge convention with your creativity. In this course, you’ll learn how the entrepreneurial process can work, as well as the ways innovation of products and services are developed and managed. We’ll look at entrepreneurial ventures within both start-up and fully developed...

What is rational choice? How do economists model the decision making process? The primary objective of this course is to understand the standard way of modeling choice, which serves as the foundation of both micro- and macroeconomics.

The course will be divided into two parts. In the first part, the traditional way of modeling individual and group choice will be...

Does ice cream cause Polio? In 1952, social scientists were convinced that ice cream caused polio, since rates of polio and ice cream consumption seemed to rise in the summer and decline in the winter. Today, we know that ice cream consumption has no causal relationship with polio. This example illustrates the importance of distinguishing correlation from causation. This course...

Do you want to contribute to the making the world free of poverty? Are you curious about why nothing seems to solve this global problem? This course will introduce you to the field of development economics. It will help you understand the economic problems of less developed countries and provide you with insights into some key issues facing policy makers today.

Presidential elections, marathon times, wine quality, extramarital affairs, interest rates. What all of these topics have in common is that they can all be explained and analyzed using the tools of Econometrics and Statistics. Did you ever wonder how Nate Silver reaches his election predictions? Did you watch Moneyball and wonder how it was possible for an...

The Bust of Nefertiti. The great Pyramids of Giza. Karnak Temple. Book of the Dead Papyri.

These are just a few of the places and things students will examine in this course. During this course, students will be introduced to Egyptian material culture, art, and architecture, from over 3,000 years of Egyptian history. We will begin at the moment of political unification in...

Ancient Egyptian temples stand as enduring remnants of Egypt's religious past. From the Great Pyramids of Giza to pit graves of the non-elite, from the great palaces and temples of kings and gods like Karnak and Luxor to private shrines in houses, this course invites you to partake in the reconstruction of ancient Egypt's religion. By analyzing Egyptian texts, statues,...

This course is an intermediate-advanced level English course focused on preparation for the TOEFL test. Students will review test-taking strategies and develop skills in Listening, Grammar, Reading and Writing. Students join in class discussions to reinforce their knowledge of the structure of English. They will complete in-class and homework assignments related to developing...

World Literature introduces literary works from four different countries, written in the second half of the 20th century: a Czech novel by Bohumil Hrabal, stories by Argentine master Jorge Luis Borges, a novel by German Nobel Laureate Heinrich Boll, and Little Red Riding Hood versions by British novelist Angela Carter.Through close reading and discussion, you will gain an understanding...

Originally, fairy tales were not intended for children, but throughout much of their history, they were told among adult audiences for entertainment and instruction. During Romanticism, fairy tales were understood as tales sending a strong moral and didactic message. The basic structure and narrative conventions are provided through magic, supernatural elements, and happy endings....

Based on Brown’s well-regarded Academic Essay course, in this class you will learn how to organize and craft a well-researched academic essay that explores a topic of your choice on an issue that matters to you. You will develop an idea, expand and support it with evidence, articulate it by means of a carefully-structured argument, and conclude it with implications for...

In this class we will write. A lot. We will write every day. And by doing so, we will develop as story tellers. We will look at work from the early days of the genre to work written last week. We will look at these stories not only out of a love for sci-fi, but also out of an interest in language. We will see how the great stories were crafted and use that knowledge to inform...

This intensive, fiction writing program offers a blend of small workshops, group writing sessions, and presentations by practicing writers, which will inspire students to consider writing as a process and to experiment with new approaches and modes of creativity. Students will grow as a writer, hone their creative skills, and deepen their passion for the writer's craft....

“@katbethell: Big storm is coming in and the sky is black and the fireflies are out, thinking it's night.” The best creative nonfiction exemplifies close observation, careful selection of detail, management of voice, and construction of narrative arc. It is an old and shape-shifting form. In Flash Nonfiction, students will learn how to write nonfiction "shorts,"...

Who says you need to board a plane or take a road trip to travel? Wherever you are, being “in the moment” provides each of us a unique window of experience. Good writers open up those windows for others with words by sharing their personal experience with vividness and intelligence. Reading inspires us to travel because we want to experience the places we read about...

This intensive, poetry writing program offers a blend of small workshops, group writing sessions, and presentations by practicing writers, which will inspire students to experiment with new approaches and modes of creativity. Students will grow as a writer, hone their creative skills, and deepen their passion for the writer's craft.

This course is designed to introduce students to the craft of journalism. Students will learn to report stories, how to conduct interviews, and to become close observers of everyday life. Students will become stronger writers, rid their writing of clutter, and learn what it takes to become a good reporter.

The main objective of this course is to teach high-school students how to write a personal statement for their college applications.

Wondering how you're going to describe yourself in 500 words? Talk about your dreams without using cliches? Don't you want to set yourself apart from the rest of the college-bound hopefuls? In this week-long seminar, students...

After the game, when the cheering stops, a sports writer's work begins. Learn how to make sport come alive in words -- the drama, the pressure, the pivotal moments, the personalities. You will also gain deeper insights into your own athletic pursuits by learning to communicate the essence of competition. From game coverage to profiles to columns to broader issues, students...

Students will hone their analytical skills with close readings of some of the most thrillingly strange narratives of the last two centuries. By foregrounding the irrational side of human nature and probing the limits of perceived reality, authors like Edgar Allan Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez have greatly expanded the possibilities...

Flash fiction is a story boiled down to its essence, one that hinges on a single word, a phrase or a fragment. In this class will learn by doing. We will write every evening and workshop in every class. We will read the work of a variety of modern authors, learning from those who have come before us. This is a class for exploring and pushing language, it is for students who...

The goal of this two-week course is to introduce you to the practice of college-level critical reading and writing. Making the transition from high school to college writing is a complex process, one that first entails re-thinking the reading process. This class works under the assumption that there is not a single, easy meaning to any piece of literature. Thus, instead of...

Experimental Writing is offered to high school students interested in producing works of fiction and non-fiction. By thinking critically about both established authors' works and those of their peers, students will enhance their own understanding of writing. They will have the opportunity to practice drafting in a variety of styles and genres, including memoir, poetry,...

Language, the foundation for virtually every human endeavor, remains in many ways as mysterious as our own muscles--the fact that we use them does not automatically grant us an understanding of how they work. Learning about language structure and language use gives us unexpected insights into our ability to communicate and the nature of our social interactions.

Are you ready to start writing the way college students write? Challenge yourself intellectually and creatively as you explore and experience writing as a form of inquiry, and a part of social conversation.

The first half of this course offers you the chance to think carefully about writing narrative prose, which is in effect a form of storytelling. Thus you begin the course...

In 2008, Nicholas Carr asked everyone on the internet, “Is Google making us stupid?” The answer seems to be yes, and no. The immediate availability of boundless stores of information gives us all a crutch to lean on when we need quick answers; if you have a smartphone in your pocket, you are a walking encyclopedia. But only so much information will fit on a smartphone...

Do you ever wish you could express your thoughts in a clearer and more compelling manner? Do you have convincing arguments and brilliant insights in your mind that just don't seem to translate into your writing? This course will help you get those great ideas onto paper and communicate them effectively to your intended audience, whether that is a high school teacher,...

Despite our increasing reliance on screens in our 21st-century lives, writing remains a crucial skill that one must have. The texts we will read are not only important for their philosophical and social content, but also for their exemplification of various modes of written argumentation. Our discussion of the various texts will focus on the three levels of reading: summary,...

The main objective of English on Stage is to provide students with an opportunity to hone their English language skills through improvisational and scripted performance. By setting English instruction in the world of the dramatic arts, the course encourages students to experiment with newly learned vocabulary and grammar. It supplements more traditional language learning models...

Do you see science or medicine in your future? Two of the greatest challenges facing budding scientists/physicians are to learn the unique language of science and how to effectively communicate with peers. This course introduces essential skills necessary for any science major or pre-med student, emphasizing the language of science and how information is disseminated. Students...

Poems challenge us. They use language differently from other genres, and their subjects often elude us, and we end up asking what does the poem mean?

How then do poems need to be read? What, other than the technical information we find in books on poetry, do we need to know about poetic forms and language? think about? puzzle over? How do we know when our interpretation...

This course is designed to teach you how to introduce your voice into an academic conversation. You will learn how to closely read primary texts, summarize arguments, evaluate and respond to critical sources, incorporate evidence and cite references, and employ a variety of rhetorical tools and strategies that will strengthen your position.

This course is designed to expose students to the diversity of contemporary American literature while developing interpretative skills for the close reading and written analysis of texts. By the end of this course, students will be familiar with major concepts in literary and cultural studies such as globalization, democracy, diaspora, genre, and representation. Through an...

You know my methods, Watson! In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, the detective frequently draws attention to his methods of detection and investigation. These methods are precise forms of close readings that focus on details as well as structures or patterns and require logical reasoning. In this seminar, the detective as a reader, as well as the reader...

American society has been fascinated with global catastrophe since at least the nuclear age. But in the last few decades, we have seen a resurgance of literature and films that explore doomsday scenarios. This course will critically examine popular and lesser-known works, giving students a relevant medium in which to develop their academic and creative writing skills.

"To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi."

Attributed to William Faulkner, this quotation will serve as the framework for an examination of 20th century Mississippi literature. This course will introduce students to major 20th century writers and will focus on how these writers engage issues of class, race, gender, language,...

This week-long workshop will explore the balance between self-expression and effective communication essential to writing powerful personal narratives, college admissions essays, and creative reflections. As you write and receive feedback daily, you’ll learn not only about purpose, revision, and style, but also about writing as a means of exploring, learning, figuring...

In this hands-on course, you will learn about nanotechnology and its broad spectrum of applications in current life. You will experience the fundamental rules behind nanotechnology through interesting experiments, activities and games. You will also see how scientists at Brown conduct leading nanotechnology research. In addition, you will get a chance to design your own nanotechnology...

Have you ever looked at an airplane and wanted to know how it works? Do the words; rocket, space, and satellite excite your imagination? Have you even wanted to know how NASA shoots up satellites into outer space and reach their final destination millions of miles away? Or how to build an airplane that can travel faster than the speed of sound? If these questions excite you,...

Do you like LEGO's? Do you like robots? Have you heard of the Mars Rover? Do you want to learn about ultrasonic, light, and sound sensors? Do you like computers? If these questions appeal to you, then you will want to register for this course.

Do you want to learn what it takes to be an engineer? There are many kinds of engineers; those who specialize in building bridges, designing submarines, or recording high-speed movies of an explosion. It might be daunting to figure out what type of engineer is right for you. Students will actually become familiar with the full range of engineering in this class.

Engineers design useful or desirable objects, employing scientific principles. In Robot Rover Derby you and your teammates will design, construct, and program a useful and desirable rover that will compete with other rover teams in a ladder tournament.

One of the most pressing issues of modern times is how we will satisfy our future energy needs and what influence this might have on global warming. This course pursues developing intuitive insights into the benefits and limitations of various approaches to energy generation, and how to differentiate between hype, scientific analysis, and political interference. This course...

“RobotC, Robot Do” is a summer course designed for high school students interested in learning about programming, but more so about problem solving. RobotC is a text-based programming language, which is very similar to the C++ programming language, but is designed specifically to work with Lego Mindstorms robots. Students will be able to program robots to move,...

What do you think will be the greatest, coolest invention of this century? Many of the greatest scientists and technologists believe that this will be in the field of Materials research: "of new materials that have amazing properties,” and what’s more, “are capable of changing themselves to suit their requirements.” Though we know of an amazing...

This course will introduce you to the art of fabricating cast metal prototypes. Using three-dimensional computer aided design software, rapid prototyping equipment, and the undergraduate Materials Science lab to make metal castings, this course will demonstrate some of the basic ideas about how engineers go about designing and fabricating prototypes in the modern world.

Are you considering a career in engineering? Are you fascinated by what engineers do?

In this free, open course, you will gain an understanding of the various fields of engineering and explore the engineering design process, from conceptual design and optimal choice evaluation to project construction and the need for engineering ethics.

Are you passionate about innovative approaches to improving human health? Biomedical engineers apply principles of biology, medicine, and science, along with problem-solving skills and critical thinking, to a broad spectrum of problems, from designing regenerative medicine and new methods of drug delivery to micro-devices and gene therapy.

Are you interested in learning more about the materials that surround our everyday lives? How might newly developed, advanced materials positively impact society? In this course, you will explore the mathematical and scientific fundamentals behind the field of materials science and engineering. You will explore the current state of the art in engineering design as you test...

The demand for energy is expected to grow 30% by 2040. What role can engineers play in developing renewable energy sources? In this course, you will explore the some of the science, math, and technology that is used to extract energy from renewable resources. You will:

Scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, and emerging technologies have a major impact on our everyday lives in the 21st century. They provide new insight into our complex world and address a range of global needs and problems. Few pre-college students are exposed to the advanced research that will likely lead to the future of science, technology and medicine. In this...

Are you considering a career in engineering? Are you fascinated by what engineers do? In this course, students will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of the engineering design processes, an appreciation of the far reaching impacts of engineering, a grasp of the various fields of engineering, and a better understanding of the profile of an engineer, including the typical...

Have you ever wondered how scientists make pacemakers or grow cartilage for joint repair? In this course, you will learn how these scientists, called biomedical engineers, develop devices and tissue-engineered technologies that often times save lives!

The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to biomedical engineering analysis, specifically relating to...

If you like the idea of applying physics concepts to hurtling objects through the air, then you're in for an exciting week. From forces to launch angle, kinematics to bending stress, and composites to prototyping, you'll get the chance to do some quality engineering backed up by college-level scientific concepts. Will you be part of the team to engineer the ultimate...

This course introduces students to the wide world of fluid mechanics, an area that covers vast scientific fields such as aerospace engineering, bacteria locomotion, and combustion dynamics, and which is fundamental for flight, rocketry, swimming, bio-locomotion, and countless other topics in engineering. We will focus on the physics and engineering of fluids and visualize core...

Virtually every segment of our everyday lives - be it transportation, housing, clothing, communications, recreation, sports, and so on - is influenced by materials in one way or another. In our contemporary era, sophisticated electronic devices, such as laptops and cell phones, rely on components that are made of semiconducting materials. Automobiles would not have been possible...

What is energy? How do we use it? Where do we get it? Why do we feel that we must find new ways of generating energy? What are the options? If you ever wondered about these questions, then this is the right course for you. If you ever saw a wind turbine and said I want to build one for myself, no need to wait!

Students will learn the basics of estuarine ecology and environmental sciences through a variety of field exercises and data collection techniques. The one-week course will allow students to learn about Narragansett Bay in-depth by using Save The Bay’s waterfront Bay Center laboratory, classroom, shoreline and dock space, and from bay field trips aboard Save The Bay’s...

BELL Rhode Island is a unique outdoor learning experience. The academic content of this course centers on understanding the causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change both globally and locally. In order to appreciate the many manifestations of climate change, our curriculum draws from both environmental science and environmental studies including biology, chemistry, economics,...

Brown University, in partnership with the Monteverde Institute, is excited to offer a unique international environmental leadership program in Costa Rica. This 2-week pre-college program introduces students to the theory and practice of conservation and sustainability in Costa Rica. Students study and explore some of the most biodiverse regions in the world and meet with scientists...

This spring, Brown University offers curious high school students a unique opportunity to explore Hawaiian culture, tropical ecology, and leadership skills. Traveling from the mountains to the sea, students will explore the Big Island’s diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems, studying geology, forest ecology, aquatic life, cultural studies, and land use. Participants...

BELL is a unique outdoor learning laboratory. The courses draw their curricula from many different disciplines: history, biology, geology, economics, environmental studies, and leadership theory. In this course, students will travel to southern Alaska to experience, first-hand, the beauty and complexities of historic and present-day Alaska. Learning will be fast-paced, experiential,...

This summer, Brown University invites highly-motivated students to examine some of the most pressing and complex issues impacting our oceans and coasts. Beyond its natural beauty, the ocean is one of our most important natural resources: it is a source of seafood, minerals and oil; a primary means of transportation and shipping; and the hub of tourism and recreation. It is...

Do you love science and nature? Do you consider yourself a bit of an amateur ecologist or biologist? What if you, and thousands of others like you, received a personal invitation to share your observations of the natural world with the greater scientific community? What if all that data was made available to scientists everywhere to help solve problems and answer science-related...

What is climate change? How do humans interact with the climate system? How can science inform action? This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of the climate system on Earth, interactions between climate and human society, and how climate change science is communicated, interpreted, and used by different nations and cultures.

The primary focus of this course is to relate concepts of sustainability, stewardship, and resilience in urban environments. We will address issues of urban and regional planning, environmental responsibility, and positive change in the awareness and behavior of individuals and organizations. The course addresses urban initiatives to increase sustainability and resiliency of...

Spanish has become the second language of the United States and the third most spoken language in the world. Today’s Spanish language learner can look forward to using their language knowledge in personal and professional settings: in business, finance, education, medicine and public health, arts, law, politics, diplomacy, and humanitarian and environmental work.

The aim of this course is for students to significantly improve their communications skills in Spanish, particularly their oral expression and listening comprehension, in order that their immersion in Spanish culture during their time in Segovia is successful and rewarding. Daily classes are taught completely in Spanish and focus on proficiency in everyday speech to facilitate...

The planets and moons of our solar system hold untold mysteries. New secrets about the solar system are constantly being uncovered by NASA spacecraft, from Curiosity on Mars to New Horizons at Pluto. Come learn what NASA missions have discovered about our incredible solar system and learn how to plan a mission of your own to your favorite place in space.

Does life exist anywhere else in the Solar System or galaxy? If you have ever looked at the sky and wondered if habitable worlds like (or unlike) ours exist elsewhere, then this is the class for you. This week-long course explores possible habitats for life on Mars, the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and exoplanets (planets around other stars). Along the way, you will learn...

Twitter. Facebook. 'Selfies.' How do today’s forms and uses of photography represent a continuation of, or break with, those of the past? Through a focus on photography’s use in digital contexts, students in this course will learn methods of critical visual analysis, build visual literacy skills, and prepare for coursework in fields such...

This course will introduce students to the art of Egypt, Greece, and Rome in the context of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum. Students will learn about ancient art, and how to apply this knowledge to museum collections; they will devise and present talks on ancient objects in the RISD galleries, and also have the opportunity to design their own exhibition.

This course will introduce students to the history of photography as an art form, a technology, and as a means of visual communication, from its invention in 1839 to the recent rise of digital technologies. In addition to introducing students to the historical background of the medium and its practitioners, the course seeks to hone the skills of visual literacy that are critical...

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Rome witnessed an explosion of artistic and scientific activity. Spurred by new instruments like the telescope and the microscope, new research into the workings of the human eye, advances in dissection and medicine, and unprecedented travel across the globe, artists incorporated knowledge about the human body, the earth, and the cosmos...

So you like listening to music, but have you ever stopped to consider its meaning, even its political significance? In this class we explore the relationship between music and politics, from classical music to indie rock. Through the practice of listening critically to music, this class illuminates past and present political events and demonstrates music’s crucial participation...

The art of negotiation has never been more important than it is today. From the classroom to the boardroom, inter-personal skills and a clear conception of the give-and-take of personalities and tactical planning are vital elements of success in today’s world. This course is designed to encourage students to think critically about the history of theories of diplomacy...

What makes a great leader? What is your own leadership potential, and how can you increase it? Do you have a passion -- such as literacy, the environment, or equal rights -- and hope to make an impact one day?

Great leaders often possess several key leadership skills. Based on one of Brown University's most popular political science courses, this course offers students...

This course will focus upon the American Counterculture from its emergence in the 1950s to its legacies in contemporary politics and society. We will analyze the historical, philosophical, and sociological foundations of the American counterculture in music, literature, style, and politics from the 1950s to the contemporary moment. This material, of which many pre-college students...

History is told from the point of view of the winners, but the “losers” leave behind their marks. In this class, students will consider the views of those who lost and place them in context with the views of the winners. They will study the arguments of Tories and others who opposed the American Revolution; the dimensions and dynamics of the pro-slavery debate in...

Whether historians like it or not, most people learn about the past at the movies. Historical movies, from Birth of a Nation (1915) to Lincoln (2012) and The Butler (2013) have larger audiences and greater cultural impact on public perceptions of history than the most celebrated and well-known scholars. Traditionally, historians have grumbled about filmmakers who encroach on...

“War is hell,” an old saying goes. Yet people have waged war on one another for all of human history, and communities around the globe continue to face the harsh realities of war every day. Rather than focusing on battles and military tactics, this course offers a deeper understanding of the human experience of warfare by studying people ranging from the common...

The focus of the course will be the history of the Modern Middle East from Napoleon's incursion into Egypt until the Islamic Revolution in Iran. We will discuss the following concepts and issues: nationalism, cultural renaissance, the decline of the empire, genocide, diplomacy, human rights, and the status of refugees. Thematic coverage in the course will include focus...

The daily news bombards us with stories about the evils that humans commit against one another--from acts of interpersonal violence such as rape and murder, to atrocities perpetrated on a massive scale, such as genocide and terrorism. Ideas about what it means to be evil, and what it means to be just and good, continue to shape the ways that we understand and react to these...

This course will examine warfare in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Blood, battles, and brutality have romanticized these warrior rulers -- Ramesses the Great, Darius the Great, Alexander the Great, and Caesar -- and have kept their memory alive into the modern era. To understand their fame, this course will use a cross-cultural approach to the study of war in...

This course examines the development of popular music over the last 100 years from jazz and folk to indie rock and hip hop. Students will learn about U.S. history through the perspective of music. It provides a chance to learn how to analyze music critically and express one's ideas clearly.

How can ancient Rome help us understand Beijing? Why should we care about the Hittite Empire? This course introduces students to the concepts, applications, and practices of imperialism by exploring and comparing empires of the pre-modern era from both the old and the new world.

Each day we will focus on a different theme and use several different empires as case...

ISIS has become an organization of considerable international interest and concern: it continues to embrace barbaric tactics like beheading, it controls land roughly the size of Great Britain, it has a coordinated and sophisticated approach to social media that helps to spread its message, and it has been publicly disavowed by Al Qaeda Central. This course is designed to look...

The class introduces students to the development of writing systems, focusing primarily on the earliest known script, Cuneiform. We are most familiar with the Roman alphabet, but cultures all over the world have designed and used a wide variety of written scripts and each has a rich history and unique features.

This course will consider the complexities of the Crusader era (ca. 1050-1400), with the particular aim of understanding the Crusades as a driving force in East-West interaction that came at great cost to the societies involved, but also generated fascinating and rich cultural interactions. The main objective of the course is to introduce pre-college students to the skill sets...

This intensive three-week course introduces the complexities and beauties of Rome, an ancient and vibrant metropolis. Designed for high school students without prior experience in Rome, the course introduces students to workshops and lectures by world-class Brown faculty, as well as immersive Italian language studies, all in the very heart of Rome.

This course seeks to "flip" the narrative of American history taught in public schools. We will look at the history of the Americas, particularly the United States, from the perspective of its Indigenous Inhabitants. An exploration of American history seen from the other side of the frontier will enable students to gain a far more complex understanding of what is...

Experience what it’s like to participate in a Brown University seminar that will challenge your ideas and invigorate your thinking. In this course, you will engage with great thinkers in world history, immerse yourself in key ideological controversies that underpin contemporary global society, and explore great social movements of our time. All the while, you will learn...

This course will explore the mathematics that underlies chaos, dynamics, fractal geometry, and the emergence of structure from simple rules. Understanding these principles opens one's eyes to beautiful and bizarre sides of mathematics and fundamentally enriches our understanding of the universe.

Millions of individuals buy and sell in the stock market, interacting...

The course provides an introduction to the history and mathematics behind cryptography. From Julius Caesar's encoded messages to his generals and Thomas Jefferson's wooden cipher to modern day encryption systems, codes have always been used to protect important or personal information. In this course we study the mathematical concepts behind encoding and decoding...

"Mathematics is the queen of the sciences and number theory is the queen of mathematics." Carl Friedrich Gauss

Number theory, the study of the integers, is a vibrant area of mathematical research that many students do not have the opportunity to study in high school. The objectives for this course are to expose students to this beautiful theory, to understand...

The aim of this course is to reinforce fundamental concepts and techniques that a student preparing to enter a first calculus or pre-calculus class will need for success. To this end, we will focus on those topics introduced in algebra courses that most often pose difficulties for students down the road. Along the way, for enrichment and depending on student interest, we may...

“For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics.” Such was the title of a New York Times feature and the motivation behind this course. While the field of statistics is growing daily, the most critical aspects of the subject are accessible to high school students. This course will explain how, where, and why statistics is used to solve...

Have you ever wondered how many numbers there really are or how big infinity is? Many mathematicians have asked these questions, and the answers can be fascinating . . . and sometimes quite strange. This course will be a journey through the mathematical concepts that have helped answer such questions, and along the way, you'll get a taste of what pure mathematics is all...

Logic is a system of rules upon which human reasoning is based. It is a tool that we deploy in our everyday lives, and it pervades every academic discipline, from mathematics to the sciences to the humanities. To philosophers, logic is a deep and complex subject of study in its own right. This course is devoted in part to exploring this system of rules, which we will build...

Imagine putting a random group of people in a room: how many do you need so the probability that two of them have the same birthday is at least one half? Something like 182 or about 365/2, right? Wrong! In fact, the probability is already greater than one half with a random collection of only 23 people! At its core, this is a question about counting; in this course, we study...

Don’t let them fool you! You hear people talking about probabilities all the time. 80% chance of rain? Well, what does that even mean? If a medical test gives the correct answer with 99% probability, does a positive test result mean you have a 99% chance of being sick? It does not. And when you hang out with your friends playing poker, wouldn’t you like to know...

The goal of this course is to introduce high-level mathematical concepts intuitively, focusing on real world applications rather than on theoretical aspects. Students will have the opportunity to see mathematics in action, applied to everyday situations beyond the dreaded "word problems" in algebra and pre-calculus.

Everyone loves the movies. In addition to entertaining us, the greatest works of cinema provoke thought, inspire us, move us, and enrich our lives. However, because of the close connection between film and entertainment, we often take movies for granted and watch them strictly for pleasure or in order to evaluate or judge them instead of analyzing them for deeper meanings....

This course examines American film-making from about 1920 through the present. Its main objective is to familiarize students with the history of American film, with a special focus on films that have been highly influential both culturally and aesthetically.

This course examines the history of American cinema from the silent era into the era of the studio monopolies...

We will cover the evolution of television news coverage from the 1950's to the present day, from 15-minute newscasts sponsored heavily by advertisers to today's 24-hour cable channels, owned by major corporations. By week’s end, we should be able to determine whether we are better off today, with more information, and more channels, than earlier generations...

Tweets, Facebook posts, e-mails, texts, instant messages, news alerts, ads: ours is the age of short-form communication. This course offers an introduction to different styles and genres of short-form verbal and non-verbal communication to help make you a more persuasive, concise, and creative writer and speaker. We will examine historical and current uses of the short form...

"Introduction to Music Production" will provide hands-on study of recording studio techniques and aesthetics. Students will create original studio work while developing listening and technical skills for audio production. Technical topics include digital and analog audio technology, acoustics, microphone technique, signal processing and mixing using professional audio...

Electronic Music explores how advancements in technology give rise to musical styles, such as techno, hip-hop, progressive rock, industrial, and synthpop. Students gain an understanding of the most influential works of electronic music through guided listening, video screenings, selected readings, class discussions, and creative assignments. Each class focuses on a specific...

This course is designed for you to learn: 1) what music theory IS, and 2) how music theory can help you "hear music better." We will investigate patterns and trends in Western classical music (Baroque through twentieth century) and more contemporary genres. The ultimate goal of the course is to see how theory can be applied to student's own musical experiences,...

Newtonian mechanics and Einstein's theory of Special Relativity is a very exciting and beautiful part of our daily life! Every single day, we see mechanics, experience it, and enjoy it through many cool activities! Every time we shoot an American football, bike, drive, take ride on a roller coaster, or fly in an airplane, we precisely obey the fundamental laws of mechanics...

Lightsabers clash in a galaxy far far away as a pair of droids walk slowly towards the setting of the twin suns.

It's hard to argue with the claim that Star Wars is one of the most iconic pieces of science fiction in the past century, but how does it hold up as a work of science fact? Death stars, blaster bolts, jet-packs, wormholes, space travel, the force...will...

Why is the Higgs boson so important? Why does Leon Lederman, a Nobel laureate, call it “the God particle”? And what does it have to do with the world we live in: light, electricity, nuclear power, atoms, and molecules? In order to answer these questions, we will have to take a journey back in time, to the universe as it was when it was forming. Along the way, we...

The Solar System. Black holes. Galaxy clusters. Quasars. The closer we look at these and other astrophysical objects, the more mysteries we uncover. This course will provide an introduction to topics of active research in astrophysics and cosmology, travelling from our galaxy to furthest reaches of the Universe. Along the way, we will explore objects like black holes, quasars,...

Much is speculated and little is known about one of the most brilliant inventors at the turn of the century, Nikola Tesla. With more than 1000 patented inventions, Tesla laid the foundations of modern society. Students will be introduced to the theory of electricity and magnetism and its applications, the principles of wireless transmission of signals, and the idea of harvesting...

Nearly 100 years ago, quantum mechanics changed the face of physics forever. The orderly, deterministic rules of classical physics were turbulently turned on their head, unveiling a veritable zoo in which particles can behave like waves and waves like particles, particles can tunnel through walls, and either the position or speed of an object can be known, but both can't...

We all know how a falling apple helped Newton discover the laws of gravitation, but did you know that playing bongos in the desert helped Richard Feynman untangle quantum field theory? Or that every famous physicist who studied thermodynamics eventually went crazy?

This is a course for people who want to understand what physics is all about. We will discuss the equations...

Introduction to Nanotechnology provides a broad overview of nanotechnology, discussing the fundamental science of nanotechnology and its applications to engineering, biomedical, and environmental fields. We will discuss the interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology and how the different basic sciences merge to create the field.

In this class, we will learn to read the sky like an ancient astronomer and will address such questions as: How did the ancient astronomers know the nature of the planets? What were the names of the planets in Babylonian? Who developed the first model of the solar system based around the sun?

This course is focused on the advances made by astronomers in the Greek...

Why was the discovery of the Higgs boson such a significant milestone in our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of matter? The goal of this course is to introduce you to cutting edge particle physics and show you how research is done in this field. You will learn about the elusive Higgs boson, one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.

This course will examine the history, development, and exploitation of the space environment, primarily from 1903 to the present. Students will receive a comprehensive overview of the space industry and "space culture" by examining the major milestones in space development. Students will explore the ways in which "space" has both reflected and informed the...

Modern science throws light on many of the perennial questions of philosophy, sometimes seeming to confirm or refute old answers and sometimes suggesting new ones. Are sensory qualities, such as colors, in external things or only in our minds? Is the world governed by deterministic laws, and if so, what room is there for freedom of the will? Could space have extra dimensions?...

By far the most popular philosophy course at Brown, this course on existentialist philosophy (taught by the current chair of the philosophy department) provides a unique introduction to philosophical thinking, by applying the methods of philosophical analysis and argumentation to questions and issues confronting all human beings: What is the meaning of a life with the distinctive...

There may be no single question more important than this: What is the meaning of life? It’s a question we all face, and finding an answer is urgent. Is there even such a thing? If so, is it something outside of us or something we have to give to ourselves? In trying to find answers, we will discuss issues ranging from purpose and fulfillment to happiness and death. By...

We will grapple with the great questions of philosophy. Our provocations will come from classic and contemporary authors, but we will learn to do philosophy, not just study it. Our topics will include the nature of the mind, knowledge, the existence of God, free will, and morality.

In this course, we cover many of the main branches of philosophy as understood in...

What kind of justification can we give for our ethical decisions? Do other people have to accept our justifications? These are questions everyone grapples with, and wondering about it never ends. This course will address different answers philosophers give to these questions.

We’ve all faced tough ethical decisions and have given reasons to support what we...

We typically enjoy a rich, conscious mental life: there's a subjective feel to experiencing the smell of fresh brownies, to be stuck with a pin, or to go on a first date. Conscious experience is such a fundamental part of what it is to be a creature like us that we often take it for granted, but some of philosophy's most fascinating and difficult questions revolve...

What does Confucius have to say about what career to choose? What does Buddhist or Islamic philosophy say about how to live your life? Examining the ideas from other cultures can be overwhelming and confusing. This course provides a basic overview of the context and major ideas from cultures around the world.

The course introduces the study of happiness by considering classic and contemporary research from the two most relevant disciplines, philosophy and psychology. Besides exposing the students to a topic of immediate human interest, the course also exposes them to two distinct modes of inquiry about it, allowing them to compare and contrast them.

Though science is unquestionably one of the most successful of all human endeavors, there are many perplexing philosophical questions at the very core of scientific reasoning and practice. Can science provide us knowledge about the unobservable parts of reality, or can it only tell us about the parts of the world we can directly measure? In what ways is science “objective,”...

Physicians, scientists, philosophers, and writers alike have grappled with the challenges of describing physical pain. The question of pain -- and more specifically how much pain one is able to or should endure -- is found in discourses pertaining to issues as diverse as healthcare, sports, grief, sexuality, illness, disability, torture, capital punishment, and war.

This is a course about breaking the law. The law is not always on the side of justice, and when it is not, we have to decide what to do about it. Do we obey the law, or do we engage in civil disobedience?

But what is civil disobedience, and what makes it different from other kinds of law breaking? Are we only allowed to participate in civil disobedience when the...

Globalization is transforming the relationship between world events and U.S. politics. This course analyzes some of the main challenges, threats, and questions facing the United States in the first decades of the twenty-first century. In addition to introducing students to core theoretical perspectives, concepts, and debates in the study of International Relations and American...

Can Twitter be used effectively as platform for protest? Can the use of Facebook make a difference in national elections, social movements, and human rights campaigns? Can Tumblr be used as a community building tool, connecting people around the world towards a shared vision?

This class will investigate the possibilities and pitfalls of using social media for social change....

How should we evaluate the laws that govern and bind society? This course will examine the moral and political value of American law through the lens of political theory. As such, students will be able to evaluate for themselves whether laws are legitimate.

During the course, we will read contemporary and classic political theory in light of the history of American...

The abduction of more than 200 school girls in Nigeria, the oppression of gays and lesbians in Russia, and the deaths of thousands of Ebola victims in West Africa have rightfully drawn the condemnation of human rights advocates. The recent killings of unarmed black men in the United States remind us that human rights violations are not just a problem over there; violations...

Public policy is the set of laws, rules, and regulations enacted and enforced by government. Policy is made in response to a societal issue or problem that requires attention and is made on behalf of the public. Examples of public policy include: marijuana legislation, standardized testing in schools, environmental regulations, and immigration. Policy affects virtually every...

Most countries claim a commitment to democracy, America especially, but we must always ask how well they live up to its ideals. What is democracy? How does it work? How should it work? How can we all be good citizens despite the enormous differences between us? Must we all vote, campaign for and lobby elected officials, or would we be better off occupying public spaces in protest?...

The world is a complicated place. World leaders must address an array of domestic and international issues on a daily basis. Their leadership qualities and styles often reflect cultural and social norms as well as their nation’s political system. Understanding how global leaders make decisions and how those decisions impact the world is vital as the world becomes increasingly...

This course gives students a chance to undertake a fascinating and highly challenging process of political and intellectual exploration. In addition to well-established far right- and left-wing ideas, you will be exposed to and asked to evaluate such ideologies as Nihilism, Radical Feminism, Radical Environmentalism, and even Radical Islam.

Do we have duties to help the poor in other countries? Is every human being owed a human right to health as a basic moral entitlement? This course introduces students to the most important ethical debates about global politics. The course strongly appeals to students who are interested in ethics, political philosophy, public policy, and international relations.

Wiretapping. Enhanced, invasive airport security screening. Evacuations. Financial bailouts. In these and many other ways, our regular ways of democratic life are disrupted when a crisis looms. But what happens to individual freedom and the accountability of government to its citizens when the red alert siren goes off?

All of us are formally equal in a democracy. But does equality breed conformity? Can we really be individuals in the crowd? And conversely, given our many differences--social, economic, and personal--is formal equality enough to keep a democracy going? Or do we need something more, like a shared sense of tradition or purpose? What does a commitment to democracy require of us...

This course examines the complex relationship between ethics and politics in international affairs. Starting with an overview of different perspectives on the role of ethics and morality in international relations, the course then explores the ethical dimensions of issues central to foreign policy and the study of world politics, including the use of force, human rights, and...

Everyone does it " but no one talks about it " until now. The Snowden revelations of extensive American surveillance operations has upset the world of international relations in a dramatic fashion, yet the United States is not the only country that spies. Is spying allowed under international law? Can surveillance and spying be reconciled with democratic values...

This course aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of the role of ethics in international affairs. It does not aim to convert students to a particular perspective, opinion, or other viewpoint. Instead, the goal is to equip students with the ability to apply ethical principles to international phenomena. To accomplish this goal, this course will focus on developing...

The international section of today’s newspapers look far different than it did only a few decades ago: rather than stories on large-scale conflict (e.g., World War II), or the prospects for such (specifically, the Cold War), we’re presented with gruesome tales of ISIS, Boko Haram, and other shadowy actors. As these groups grow in strength and number, states and...

One of the deadliest and most common forms of political violence in the world today is civil war, affecting people from all corners of the globe, in countries such as Syria, Ukraine, South Sudan, and Colombia. This course will introduce students to our current understanding of the origins, dynamics, and termination of civil war. We will pay close attention to some of the key...

Should the United Nations and World Bank be reformed? How should states cooperate to address global warming? This is the second part of a two-part course introducing students to the most important ethical debates about global politics. The course strongly appeals to students who are interested in ethics, political philosophy, public policy, and international relations. Students...

Climate change is the most important issue humanity faces and will increasingly dominate our experiences and global discourse over the course of our lives. The takeaway message of this course is that while global governance is presently dysfunctional, there is reason to hope, and that motivated individuals can still make a difference. Students will learn who the major actors...

This course will introduce students to methods used by psychological science to help answer common questions about the “unknown.” We will examine common ways in which human thinking leads people to believe strange things and to maintain these beliefs even in the face of contradictory information. Students will develop critical thinking skills for evaluating claims...

The completion of the Human Genome Project may be the most important scientific achievement of our lifetime, but how much can genes tell us about complex human behavior? How much does the environment impact human behavior? What kind of research techniques can be used to identify specific genes and specific environments that influence behavior?

In this course, students will be exposed to the science and practice of Clinical Psychology. Students will learn about the clinical characteristics of many major classes of psychiatric disorders, and the scientifically validated treatments available for these conditions. This course is intended to provide information for those considering a career in clinical psychology, allowing...

Can bipolar disorder be accurately diagnosed in children? Do certain antidepressant medications increase risk of suicide? Can alternative remedies such as fish oil stabilize mood swings? These questions address only a few of the recent controversies that surround the study of mood disorders, such as major depression and bipolar illness. Using these disorders to illustrate key...

For years, psychology has been the study of what ails the human mind. For example, why do certain individuals develop depression or abuse substances? Currently, there is a movement within psychology to study not only what ails the human mind, but what makes us happy, healthy, and content in our lives. Positive psychology is the scientific study of what goes right in our life,...

This course provides an introduction to the profession of counseling. As such, a primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the field of counseling and the multiple training disciplines. The course will address the various fields of counseling (e.g., school counseling, marriage and family therapy, social work, clinical psychology) and the required training needed...

In "Psychology and the Media," we will explore and evaluate the ways in which psychology and psychologists are (mis)-represented in the popular media. Films, TV clips, and websites will be used to illustrate the ways in which psychology and psychologists are portrayed in the media and to stimulate discussion about the accuracy, ethics, and implications of the media...

This course will introduce students to what psychologists mean when they use the term personality. Does money make people happy? Why do some people prefer to study in a noisy coffee shop while other people prefer a quiet library? How is personality related to health outcomes such as heart disease? What motivates people? Are men from Mars and women from Venus? What does it mean...

Are you interested in psychology and really want to have an impact on your school, neighborhood, community, or society? Are you passionate and have a vision of how to affect and maybe change the system?

Community psychologists seek to understand the relationships between individuals and larger systems. If you have ever wanted to learn about applied psychology that could...

What is the latest science about how gender identity develops? Are fathers essential for a child’s well-being? Is fetal sex selection harmful for society? What are the consequences of advertisements that suggest that an individual’s status depends on so-called sex appeal? This course will address these questions, and provide a broad survey of the field of the psychology...

How do we cope with war, natural disaster, or terrorism? What about surviving experiences with abuse or torture? How are these experiences different or similar to routine life stresses like exams, moving, or getting divorced? How can you prevent or treat psychological problems that might arise after trauma? These are some of the overarching issues that will be addressed in...

Have ever wondered if your friend has an eating disorder, if your uncle is an alcoholic, or if your math teacher is depressed? Have you ever thought about why a behavior that is normal in one culture might be considered a disorder in another culture? If so, you have already thought about abnormal psychology.

The field of psychology has long focused on the harmful impact of stress, adversity, and trauma. Yet many remarkable individuals show incredible resilience in the midst of difficult, even horrible, situations. How are some people resilient in the face of abuse, torture, war, natural disaster, or terrorism? What about resilience to routine life stresses like taking exams or...

What does it mean to know yourself? Why is love so painful? What is the source of man’s belief in God? How does history repeat itself? Why do our dreams haunt us? Is there a difference between men and women? What is an Oedipus complex, and do you have one? Sigmund Freud devoted his life to answering these questions.

A standard course in any undergraduate Business department, Organizational Behavior integrates the study of management principles and practices with the study of human behavior within organizations. Students will be exposed to philosophies, theories, and generally accepted techniques in the management of people in the work environment as we focus on issues, such as organizational...

The psychology of sport is the study of the interaction between psychological variables and performance in athletic and physical activities. The overall objective of this course is to introduce students to psychological theory and practical skills that influence sport performances. Students will be encouraged to incorporate the personal significance of the course content to...

Social psychology is the intriguing study of social context and the way it influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Students will be encouraged to reflect on the application of social psychology research to real-world problems and to incorporate concepts explored in class to its relevance in their own lives.

Have you ever wondered where the terms “cold feet” or “butterflies in your stomach” come from? Have you ever wondered why zebras and other animals don’t get ulcers? This course will answer these and other questions related to the role of psychology in the onset, course, and treatment of medical conditions.

Have you ever wondered how mental illness affects children and their families? Can kids "catch" autism? Can children really suffer from schizophrenia? From autism and anxiety to pediatric bipolar and schizophrenia disorders, students will learn what psychiatric disorders look like in children, how they are treated, and controversies in childhood psychiatric diagnoses....

This course will focus on landmark scientific studies and political movements that have changed the way psychological disorders are viewed. Through the study of the history of psychological disorders, students will be able to track how society and science influence one another. The course will help students develop a critical view of science and medicine.

There is a recent groundswell of interest in empathy; CEOs, best-selling authors, and international leaders have identified empathy as one of the most important leadership skills of the 21st century. Generally understood as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another,” empathy will play an increasingly important role in our interdependent and hyper-connected...

Does freedom mean acting on every desire we experience? To what extent are we free, and in what ways are our thoughts and actions determined by factors beyond our control (such as our biology or our culture)? How well do we know ourselves? Do we really know why we do what we do? This course examines classic explanations of human action and character. We explore these topics...

Are religion and science fundamentally in conflict with one another? The U.S. has been called the "most religious of the advanced industrial democracies," yet it also stands at the forefront of scientific discovery. Think about the conflict, for example, between evolutionary theory’s and creationism’s understanding of the human being. At the same time,...

The past decade has seen a relative explosion in attention in what is typically called "religious violence." This phrase peppers news coverage of current events, books on contemporary politics, and discussions of national and international security. The primary objective of this course is to make sense of this language: Why do we describe some violence as religious?...

Despite remarkable progress over the last hundred years, women continue to face unique challenges in educational, career, social, and political arenas. In this course, students analyze the position and portrayal of women in society, explore how gender and other factors influence our understanding of leadership, and propose strategies to facilitate inclusion and social justice...

Participants in sports, athletes and fans alike, are more than just players in an American past time or a competition. Rather, they are part of a powerful social vehicle that demonstrates "inherent fundamental truths" central to the American identity.

This course will consider how sport perpetuates cultural values embedded in masculinity, with implications...

Despite remarkable progress over the last hundred years, women in the 21st century still face unique challenges in educational, career, social, and political arenas. In this course, students (1) analyze the position and portrayal of women in society, (2) explore how gender and other factors influence women’s leadership styles, and (3) propose strategies to facilitate...

Leadership and Social Justice is a course designed to provide engaged students with the tools and theory needed to become successful change makers, activists, and community organizers. This course explores how grassroots movements can transform communities, cultural norms, and global systems. How are campaigns developed, initiated, and orchestrated? What factors determine a...

Social Entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social problems. In this course, students will study how social entrepreneurs and social enterprises are addressing global challenges in areas such as education, job creation, the environment, arts, poverty, health care, and finance. Students will explore how different kinds of...

Who am I and how does my personal background impact my life experiences, my world view, and my relationships with others? To work effectively as a leader towards social change, one must have self-knowledge and an understanding of how individual, institutional, and societal inequity manifests in society, both locally and globally.

How do doctors decide what is wrong with you? What happens when your symptoms cannot be explained medically? How do patients negotiate diagnoses, and where does self-diagnosis come in? This course will address these questions, as well as the decision-making process of diagnosis through a sociological lens. Diagnosis is the cornerstone of modern biomedical practice, since it...

Why is the world the way it is? Do we act as individuals with free will or do we follow social structures that we have no control over? Why are societies unequal and why do these inequalities persist? How is social change possible?

Social theory tackles these ‘big questions’ and addresses some of the most challenging social issues today. Through studying...

Why do black men in the United States die nearly ten years earlier, on average, than white women? Can having overweight friends cause you to gain weight, independent of your own eating and exercise habits? Can stress from living in your neighborhood cause breast cancer? Increasingly, researchers are finding that the social worlds that we inhabit “get under our skin”...

In the past decade, human trafficking has rapidly risen to the top of the global human rights agenda. This course introduces students to the varying definitions of human trafficking in law and practice in a variety of global contexts. It provides an overview of critical debates in "modern day slavery" studies, including: gender, labor, migrant, and sexual...

How do small, local interactions with one's neighbors and community members foster democratic participation and create what we broadly term "civil society"? What is gained from running into your neighbor at the local coffee shop, the dog park, or at the gym? Are people who sit and chat in coffee shops really more engaged with their local and national communities...

The TheatreBridge Acting Company offers a connecting link between high school and college theatre and encourages a commitment to a life of creative engagement. This highly selective intensive provides promising young actors an opportunity to stretch their imaginations as they build their skills and create new work under the mentorship of established theatre professionals. Past...

This two-week course offers a unique workshop experience for young writers and performers interested in the special challenges of writing sketch comedy for performance. Students will work both collaboratively and individually to develop and refine short scenes, to edit them based on student and instructor feedback, to stage them with minimal time and resources, and afterwards...

Want to make amazing presentations and influence people? Learn the tips, tricks, tactics, and tools of giving effective public presentations. This course will introduce you to fundamental methods of public speaking and designing effective graphic presentations.

Public presentation skills are central to success in any academic or professional career. This course will...

In this course, we will study how art and activism have intersected in contemporary society. Students will study the ways in which artists and community-based art initiatives are effectively addressing a wide array of social issues. Providence is home to a several nationally recognized youth arts programs and students will have an opportunity to learn about these organizations...

Digital video production is for budding movie-makers with an emphasis on experimentation in the use of the video medium. The primary goal of the course is to serve as a foundation for further exploration in digital video artwork and storytelling. Students will write, direct, act, shoot, and edit short videos, with beginning and intermediate instruction. We will cover the fundamentals...

Ascending a staggering half mile into the sky, the Burj Khalifa represents the culmination of a story that began in 1896 with the ten-story Wainwright Building; the world's first skyscraper. What happened in the intervening century is the story of this class, which traces the forgotten histories of the world's tallest structures. The glistening pinnacle of the Chrysler...

Drawing Intensive introduces students of all levels to a totally immersive drawing experience on a daily basis. Each day's real art-school-based studio session offers three full hours of drawing combined with group critique, one-on-one feedback to hone technique, and the freedom to experiment. This course gives students a head start in preparing for college art classes...

This two-week course combines studying the lives and practices of famous artists with students’ own active engagement in creating their own art. We will get to know artists like Andy Goldsworthy, Cristo, Vik Muniz and Ushio Shinohara as well as Graffiti artists Banksy and Swoon, using documentary films to explore the complexity of these artists’ careers and lifestyles....

Explores the electronic structure of atoms and molecules, thermodynamics, solution equilibrium, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, and reaction mechanisms. Course includes lecture and laboratory sections. Laboratory cannot be taken without the lecture. Students who previously passed 0330 lab may be excused from repeating the lab portion of the course. Prerequisite: CHEM 0100,...

Literature gestures us toward a certain kind of knowledge not quite psychological, not quite philosophical. We read widely in the classical and medieval traditions in order to gauge the peculiar nature of what this knowledge tells us about experience and the ways in which expressions of selfhood abide or are changed over time. Authors include but are not limited to Sappho, Pindar, Catullus, Horace, Augustine, and Fortunatus.

An examination of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of cultural production. We will read literature and film in combination with historical texts, exploring how cultural producers have responded to key events from the partition of Palestine in 1947 until the second Intifada. We will examine the way that novels, poetry, documentaries and films provide us with...

Extensive coverage of economic issues, institutions, and vocabulary, plus an introduction to economic analysis and its application to current social problems. Required for all economics concentrators. Course serves as a prerequisite for ECON 1110, 1130, 1210 and 1620. Serves as a general course for students who will take no other economics courses and want a broad introduction to the discipline.

Are humans born naturally good, evil, neither, or all of the above? Does evil lurk deep within the heart of all that is good, or can the forces of good eradicate those of evil? Is evil an inextricable part of what it means to be human in the first place? We'll examine these and related questions by reading some especially provocative literature, including Frankenstein,...

An introduction to university-level writing. Students produce and revise multiple drafts of essays, practice essential skills of paragraph organization, and develop techniques of critical analysis and research. Readings from a wide range of texts in literature, the media, and academic disciplines. Assignments move from personal response papers to formal academic essays. Enrollment...

Designed to develop the reading competence in French for graduate students (or advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor). Fundamentals of grammar and syntax are emphasized as well as reading skills in the fields of individual students. Successful completion should satisfy the foreign language requirement for graduate students in other departments. (Consult...

A four-skill language course that stresses oral interaction in class. Thematic units will focus on songs, poems, a short novel (E-E Schmitt), two graphic novels (Sattouf, Larcenet), films and a detective novel by Fred Vargas. Activities include a creative project using Comic Life, and a systematic grammar review. Prerequisite: FREN 0400, FREN 0200 with written permission,...

In this course we will investigate the "felt histories" of the American Civil War -- the personal experiences of Americans (northerners and southerners, slaves and freed people, European immigrants and Native Americans, men and women) who fought its battles and bore its consequences. These histories, as Robert Penn Warren notes, are an "index to the very complexity,...

A workshop for students who have little or no previous experience in writing fiction. Enrollment limited to 17 per section. This course is limited to undergraduates and pre-baccalaureates. Grade Option: S (Satisfactory) / NC (No Credit) only. Enrollment limited to 17.

A workshop for students who have little or no previous experience in writing screenplays. This course is limited to undergraduates and pre-baccalaureates. Grade Option: S (Satisfactory) / NC (No Credit) only. Enrollment limited to 17.

An intensive course in calculus of one variable including limits, differentiation, maxima and minima, the chain rule, rational functions, trigonometric functions, and exponential functions. Introduction to integration with applications to area and volumes of revolution. MATH 0090 and 0100, or AP Calculus BC score 4 or 5 are recommended for all students intending to concentrate...

A continuation of the material of MATH 0090 including further development of integration, techniques of integration, and applications. Other topics include infinite series, power series, Taylor's formula, polar and parametric equations, and an introduction to differential equations. MATH 0090 and 0100, or AP Calculus BC score 4 or 5 are recommended for all students intending...

In our exploration of Middle Eastern social movements, this course addresses the role of culture and art in social change; the relationship between faith and politics; as well as the impact of national, regional, and transnational discourses on identity, ethics, and citizenship. The study of social movements in the region will address the impact of technology, media, women’s...

An examination of research on music and the brain; connections between music, mathematics and history; and music's interrelationship with literature. Readings include The Power of Music (Mannes), Musicophilia (Sacks), The Kreutzer Sonata (Tolstoy), Doctor Faustus (Mann), A Clockwork Orange (Burgess), and writings by Morike, Hofstadter, Vaget, and Taruskin, in which music...

Introduction to the mammalian nervous system with emphasis on the structure and function of the human brain. Topics include the function of nerve cells, sensory systems, control of movement and speech, learning and memory, emotion, and diseases of the brain. No prerequisites, but knowledge of biology and chemistry at the high school level is assumed.

While a large part of being a neuroscientist involves performing experiments to collect data, the reality of studying the brain is that you can often collect way more data than you know what to do with! In this course, we will discuss data analytic challenges in neuroscience. We will provide real data sets for hands-on student activities. By the end of the course, students...

Some fundamental moral and metaphysical issues concerning ourselves as persons: What is a person? Are we (humans) the only persons on this planet? What (if anything) gives us a moral status different from that of the other animals? Do we have the sort of free will required for us to be morally responsible for our actions? What makes you today the very same person as the person...

The overall goal of this course is to improve students' ability to think clearly and carefully and to enable them to identify and evaluate arguments. This includes enabling them to: understand and apply relevant concepts like truth, validity, and soundness; determine the structure of an argument; work with arguments using basic propositional logic; understand and apply...

Survey of mechanics, electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics for concentrators in sciences other than physics-including premedical students or students without prior exposure to physics who require a less rigorous course than PHYS 0050, 0060. Employs the concepts of elementary calculus but little of its technique. Lectures, conferences, and laboratory. Twelve hours...

The search for true happiness is as relevant today as it was 2500 years ago in South and East Asia. What constitutes leading a rewarding and fulfilling life, according to the most recent research in neuroscience and psychology and to the ancient sages of India and China? Can it be attained through pleasures of the senses or through pleasures of the spirit? Attained through...

Provides an introduction to public speaking, and helps students develop confidence in public speaking through the presentation of persuasive speeches. Primarily for seniors. Limited to 18. Instructor's permission required. No permission will be given during pre-registration; interested students should sign up well in advance on the TAPS 0220 waitlist (form is at http://www.brown.edu/academics/theatre-arts-performance-studies/undergraduate-program/required-course-information)...

This course draws upon the multi-disciplinary expertise of four instructors to provide a detailed exploration of recent neuroscientific research on meditation combined with guided first-person experiential learning in various meditation practices. The course focuses on the cognitive, affective, and neurophysiological effects of meditation practices and their clinical applications...

Introduction to the new field of Contemplative Studies focusing on identifying methods human beings have found, across cultures and across time, to concentrate, broaden and deepen conscious awareness. We will study what these methods and experiences entail, how to critically appraise them, how to experience them ourselves, and how they influence the development of empathy,...

An introduction to basic visual art concepts, exploring a range of materials with emphasis on experimentation and analysis of visual relationships. Drawing is a vital part of this course. VISA 0100 or 0110 is a prerequisite to any advanced studio course work at Brown or the Rhode Island School of Design. Under certain circumstances a student may petition for a waiver of this requirement upon submission of a portfolio.

This is an extensive study in form and structure to develop spatial understanding and the fundamentals of 3-dimensional design and construction. Students will explore the structural, compositional and conceptual implications of basic materials, such as wood, metal, plaster and found objects. Projects are designed as a means for investigating a variety of sculptural processes....